British Planes For Finns

Northern Advocate, 15 December 1939, Page 8

British Planes For Finns

(Received 2 p.m.) LONDON, December 14

The Prime Minister (Mr Chamberlain) in the House of Commons, said the Russian invasion of Finland had outraged the conscience of the world. The Finnish Army had proved itself a far better fighting' force, and superior in everything except numbers.

Germany had publicly ranged itself on the side of the aggressor, he continued, and Britain considered no League member State could be indifferent to this clear case of aggression. Fighter Planes Therefore, British had decided to release for Finland a number of fighter planes, and would release other war materials as soon as possible. Other countries, which re- ■ cently had supplied war material to Finland, would have supplied more, but Germany had made transport difficult, he said. Germany’s support of Russia had been accompanied by an insolent and violent campaign against the Scandinavian countries, in order to procure their moral support. Only Course

Britain believed that full use should be made of the League machinery for a peaceful settlement of the dispute, Mr Chamberlain declared.

But if that course was impossible, then the machinery should be employed to lend practical assistance to Finland. German propaganda had seized on the Finnish war, which had also been used by many others, either consciously or unconsciously in its service, in order to deflect attention from the Primary Allied war objective, namely, the-defeat of Nazism. Nazis Paved Way

“We must never lose sight of that objective,” he said, “or forget that it was German aggression that paved the way for the Russian attack. “It is only by concentrating on our task of resistance to German aggression, thus attacking the evil at its roots, that we can hope to save Europe from the fate which must otherwise overtake it.”